Resident Evil: Reunion
by Sin Oan
Summary: Jill and Claire team up to rescue Sherry Birkin from a secret lab in France, but must fight their way through a horde of zombies and monsters whilst surviving a trap filled Chateau.
1. Chapter 1: The Philosopher's Stone

**RESIDENT EVIL: REUNION**

_Chapter 1: The Philosophers Stone_

[2003]

Christine Henri cradled the telephone against her ear, listening intently to the speaker on the other end as she stood upon one of the balconies of Chateau Loire. A cold breeze blew through the valley below.

"Yes, I see," she said, "Don't worry about it, I know what to do," She snapped the phone shut and tucked it away in her pocket, taking a deep steadying breath. So. Umbrella was finally being shut down. Inevitable really. She was honestly astonished that Spencer had kept it alive as long as he had, but Wesker himself had turned up at the trial to testify against the company, and had brought some pretty damning evidence.

Fortunately Christine had already taken steps to prepare for this eventuality; she'd systematically erased all evidence of Umbrella's activities here in the Loire valley, destroyed any records and had HUNK and his men hunt down and eliminate any Umbrella executives that knew about this place (excluding Spencer, but no one could find him). Of course she now had to privately fund the research she was conducting here out of her own pocket, but if the news she was waiting for was good then it would all be worth while ...

There was a knock at the door to her office. She turned away from the balcony and sat down at her desk, calling out for the knocker to enter. It was Doctor Deveraux, clutching a folder under one arm. Speak of the devil.

"Ah, doctor, I take it you have the report on the Birkin girl then?" she said, trying to contain her anticipation. The contents of that report could potentially shape the future of the world. It was something of a big deal.

He nodded. "Yes, and the news is good," he stopped in front of her desk and handed her the folder. Taking it and glancing over the contents, a smile spread across Christine's face.

"I was right," she said quietly, "William did hide something in her."

Deveraux adjusted his glasses. "Initial tests show the presence of an unidentified synthetic enzyme within Sherry Birkin, similar in nature to telomerase found in Hela cells and Stem cells. Her cells can replicate indefinitely, circumventing the Hayflick limit and rendering her biologically immortal. It would appear that Doctor Birkin developed and administered this enzyme to his daughter, possibly when she received what she believed to be a flu vaccination."

Christine glanced up from the report. "What about her arrested development? She should be a teenager by now, so why hasn't her body matured? A side effect?"

He frowned. "We're not entirely certain. Tests of her genome indicate that her genetic structure underwent abnormal changes due to implantation by a G-type embryo, which triggered some kind of cellular metamorphosis. This change was then halted by the administration of the Devil vaccine she was given. The combination of factors seems to have caused the problem, though it's impossible to be sure."

"Can you fix it?"

"Possibly, but it could take years and might compromise our attempts to reverse engineer the enzyme."

Christine shook her head. "Don't bother then. Concentrate on our primary goal. She shall just have to remain the way she is," She closed the report and handed it back to him with a content sigh. "Take good care of our dear little Sherry. She's the most valuable commodity on the face of the planet, and she's going to make us all fantastically rich."

When he had gone, Christine picked up a hand mirror from her desk and examined her face in it. It was weathered and lined with numerous creases, and she was fast going grey. She was getting old. In a few years time though, that would cease to be a problem. William had no doubt given that enzyme to his daughter as a ... gift of sorts. Something to make up for all the time he spent away from Sherry, working hard for Umbrella. Soon that gift would be hers though, and more than that she would release it to the world and be hailed as a saviour.

Years ago the Paris division of White Umbrella had made a major breakthrough with the Nemesis parasite. Birkin had leaned on them to hand over their research, and had then completed it himself, taking all the credit. She had done the real work, and he had stolen it from her. Now Christine would get her own back. She would steal his greatest accomplishment and claim it as her own, just as she'd stolen his G-virus. She almost wished Birkin had a grave she could dance on.

Putting the mirror down, she leaned back in her chair and smiled to herself. "Immortality will soon be a reality ..."

* * *

Sherry Birkin stared at the television screen without really seeing it. She'd spent the better part of the last five years being a prisoner, and she was one even now, though it might not seem like it at first glance. She had her own room, which was large and pretty. She could go almost anywhere in the Chateau, just not alone. There were camera's everywhere, always watching her, and guards. She wasn't allowed to use the telephone or internet. It was a gilded cage, but a cage nonetheless.

Still, her captors were relatively nice, so long as she didn't complain or cause trouble when they wanted to run their tests on her. Endless blood samples and scans. They said they were trying to help fix what was wrong with her, though she didn't believe that for a second.

Ever since her escape from Raccoon back in '98, she'd been passed around like a parcel. First it was the government. Then men in black had come and taken her one night to Albert Wesker. She knew Wesker - he was a policeman and had been friends with her father, though her mother had said that Wesker was dead. Apparently not. He'd locked her up in a dark cell for a long time and forgotten all about her. He wasn't the only one.

Claire and Leon. Her chest tightened to think of those names. They had been her friends, helped her escape the nightmare of Raccoon City, and then ... they'd forgotten about her too. Claire went to go find her brother and that was the last Sherry ever heard of her. Leon had been taken by the government the same day Sherry had, but she'd never seen him again either. In all the years since she'd last seen them, neither one of them had come looking for her. They'd simply forgotten her. Unless they were dead, but she didn't believe that; anyone that could survive Raccoon city could survive anything.

A few months ago, still locked in her cell, Sherry had heard gunfire and explosions. After some time her cell was opened and a scary man in a gas mask had taken her away and brought her here. It was somewhere in France. She often overheard the guards and scientists speaking to each other in French, but she didn't understand a word. That also made it more difficult to watch television, since most of the channels were in French as well. The view was lovely anyway. Oddly enough she would catch a glance of the Umbrella logo around the place - on containers and computers. That was the company her parents had worked for, and she'd occasionally heard her father talking about a branch of Umbrella in France. It was still odd though, because on the news it seemed that Umbrella was being shut down due to what happened at Raccoon City. Why was this place still up and running then?

Sherry stared down at her hands. Hands that had not changed in five years. Something _was_ wrong with her. She wasn't growing anymore, wasn't getting any older. She was seventeen years old now, yet she still looked as she had done the day she'd left Raccoon in '98. That wasn't normal, not by any stretch. She remembered that she'd fallen ill when she had been escaping the city with Claire and Leon, but Claire had given her something to make her better. Was the problem she had now because of that? She didn't know. She'd asked the people here what was wrong with her. Mostly they said they didn't know, and that they needed to run tests on her to find out.

With a sigh she got up and crossed to her window, staring out at the village below and the river gently rushing by. There were no bars on her window, but nor was there any way for her to climb out or down. Unless she developed the ability to crawl across walls and ceilings like those inside-out men back at the RPD, she wasn't going to escape that way. Even if she did escape, where would she go? Her parents were dead, and Claire and Leon could be anywhere in the world, if they were even alive. Besides, the people here had soldiers with trucks and guns and helicopters, and she strongly suspected that they'd electronically tagged her in some way.

No, Sherry Birkin was stuck here until either these people were finished with her, or until someone rescued her. The latter did not seem likely. Her one consolation was that at least she wasn't getting any older.


	2. Chapter 2: In the Village

Chapter edit - corrected a mistake pointed out to me about calling Africa a country. If any other mistakes are present, please let me know so I can correct them!

**RESIDENT EVIL: REUNION**

_Chapter 2: In the Village_

[2010]

Jill Valentine checked her speed as she drove the BSAA humvee down the lonely country road. France was certainly a picturesque place, and the climate was a good deal more bearable than Africa. It had only been a few months since her ordeal with Wesker had ended, and she was glad to be back in the field at long last. Of course, being one of the Original Eleven that founded the BSAA had helped. That, and having Rebecca Chambers - former STARS medic - be the one to do her medical evaluation.

She was still blonde. She hadn't decided yet whether or not to dye her hair back to its original colour. Apparently there was a pool going on back at HQ as to whether she would or not. She'd asked Chris what he thought, and he'd unhelpfully suggested she go with whatever colour she liked best. Thanks Chris. Big help.

So here she was, flying solo to check out a suspected Umbrella facility that may or may not be hidden away at Loire Village. There was no evidence Umbrella had ever worked here, but Jill herself recalled during her captivity with Wesker several mentions of an Umbrella lab being here. Besides, Umbrella did once have their European HQ set up in Paris, so it was not an unbelievable stretch.

There was a sudden beeping - the car phone. Jill glanced down briefly at the display and noticed the ID as belonging to the local BSAA headquarters. She tapped the speaker button.

"Jill, it's Chris."

She frowned. "Chris? What are you doing in Europe? Not checking up on me are you?"

"As a matter of fact I am - they sent me over here to see if there's anything to this Loire Village lead you're looking into. More than that, I thought you might like to hear the latest about Tricell."

From the sound of his tone the news was not good. With a sigh she said, "Go ahead."

"The latest inquest meeting finished a few hours ago. It looks as if they might weasel their way out of everything."

"How?" said Jill, not quite believing it, yet at the same time not quite surprised. Umbrella had hung in there for years after Raccoon had been destroyed, and a major American city going up was a lot more attention grabbing than a failed terrorist attack in Africa.

"They're using Excella as a scapegoat," Chris explained, "Claiming she fell in with terrorists and began researching illegal bioweapons without their knowledge. They said that the whole thing was an unsanctioned operation conducted solely by their African division, and that they were just as shocked as everyone else to find out about it."

"That's bull, Chris," Jill said bluntly.

"You don't need to tell me," he said, "but they've covered their tracks well. A massive investigation is under way, but some of us don't think it will find anything to link the rest of Tricell to what happened in Africa."

"There must be something we can do?"

"Not without evidence. The BSAA is not a vigilante group, and at the moment Tricell are doing a pretty convincing job of playing the innocent victim. Granted this is serious bad press, but not nearly bad enough to sink them. There are a lot of people that just don't care about things that happen in a third world place like Africa, and Tricell has had a spotless reputation before this."

"So that's it? They're just going to be let off the hook for almost destroying the entire planet?"

"To be honest, I don't think they're completely lying," said Chris, "I find it hard to believe that the rest of Tricell was on board with Wesker's deranged Uroboros plan. They'd have died just as surely as everyone else. There's no doubt that they're involved in BOW research, but I'd say that it is true that Excella went rogue and helped Wesker without their say-so."

"Even so ..." Jill trailed off. She felt deeply uneasy. After all these years Umbrella was finally gone, only to be replaced with a richer, more powerful group that were still doing the same damn things. Would it ever end?

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," said Chris.

"Don't worry about it," she glanced at the GPS screen fixed to her dashboard, "I'll be at the village in about ten minutes. I'll call in later and let you know what I find."

"Roger. Oh, and Jill?"

"Yes Chris?"

"Stay alert ..."

* * *

It was dark by the time Claire Redfield finally arrived at the outskirts of Loire Village. She hung her helmet on the handlebars of her motorbike and glanced around. Boy was it dark. A few street lamps were on, but none of the lights in any of the houses were. Was everyone asleep?

She could see an inn a short distance away, also completely dark. Looking up, she saw that there were lights on in a large elegant Chateau perched on a hill overlooking the village. Maybe they were having a party and everyone was invited. Yeah, right.

A few days ago Claire had received a visit from Leon. It was good to see him, but he had some interesting news - a tip from a reliable source of his, which claimed that Sherry Birkin was being held prisoner at Loire Village, in France. Claire had been shocked. She hadn't heard Sherry's name in years. She'd left the young girl with Leon to go look for her missing brother, and from what she'd heard Sherry had been taken into government custody. Before Claire had the chance to check up on her, the girl had been kidnapped by persons unknown, and had dropped off the face of the planet since then.

She was gone, plain and simple. No one could say who had taken her or where she was. Claire had long since given up hope of ever seeing her again, fearing the worst. And then Leon ... his tip was the first news about the missing Birkin girl in ... well, ever. She resolved to check it out right away, even if it did turn out to be bogus. Leon however could not come. He was tied up and had barely been able to make the time to come and see her.

So alone then, Claire had gone to France for the second time. Her last visit some years ago had not been a pleasant one. Back then, Umbrella had still been up and running and Claire had broken into their Paris headquarters trying to find Chris. For her troubles she had nearly been blown away by a helicopter, and had been captured and imprisoned on Rockfort Island. Still, the whole incident did eventually reunite her with her brother, if in a round about way.

"Where is everyone?" she wondered aloud, walking into the dark village on foot. She felt an eerie sense of deja-vu. Once upon a time she'd arrived at Raccoon City, which had also seemed deserted at first. In a world of bioweapons, monsters and zombies, you learned to be suspicious of seemingly lifeless, empty places. They were usually full of horrors.

Claire reached into her red denim jacket and drew a pistol from her shoulder holster. A Beretta M93R that had been a gift from her brother. She checked that it was loaded and the safety was off before advancing further into the gloomy village. There was not a soul in sight. It was late, but not that late. The time on her cell phone showed it to be around half past nine. Naturally there was no signal reception here. Go figure.

She made for the inn, figuring that at least it was a public building, and if she had to stick her head in somewhere to find out what was going on, breaking into someone's house might not be a good start. It was a pretty looking building, three storeys tall and mostly white. A sign post squeaked on its hinges above the front door. Insofar as she could tell, none of the lights were on inside, and she could see nothing by peering through the windows.

Well, wasn't this just lovely? And creepy. Gun at the ready, Claire tried the front door, which wasn't locked. Using the flashlight on her cell she stepped inside and swept the light back and forth, taking in her surroundings. The front reception area was empty. Nobody in sight. Very strange. Had the village been evacuated? She advanced towards the counter.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out, nervous. No answer. She hadn't expected one. Reaching the counter, she noticed the register book and took a close look at it. According to the dates, the last person to check in did so two days ago. There were no entries more recent than that.

"What happened here?" Claire wondered aloud, lowering her pistol and frowning. Where was everyone?

Then, taking her completely by surprise and making her jump, the telephone rang. The one on the counter. Claire stared at it. It continued to ring, the sound especially loud and harsh in the eerie silence of this dark and empty village. Finally deciding to answer it, Claire picked up the receiver and placed it to her ear, listening.

Nothing. Not a sound. Not even breathing. The silence went on for nearly a full minute before Claire said, "Hello?"

There was a Click as whoever was on the other end hung up. There was however no dial tone. Claire put the receiver down, waited a second, and picked it up again. The phone was dead. She tried pressing a few of the buttons but got nothing. The line must have been cut. She hung up and looked around at the empty room.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said.


	3. Chapter 3: That Creepy Russian

**RESIDENT EVIL: REUNION**

_Chapter 3: That Creepy Russian_

John Saxon stood before the banks of screens, hands on hips and an expression of mild annoyance adorning his face. On the screens themselves were the severe men and women that represented the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have my _personal_ assurance that I had no idea about Excella's plans," Saxon said, "She was being used by Albert Wesker. You remember him? The man was a menace. Spent years making bioweapons for Spencer and Umbrella, then stabbed them in the back in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Then he continued making and selling the stuff himself. He hoodwinked one of my executives so he could use my companies resources for his own ends."

"And you had no idea?" one of the representatives asked, sceptical. Saxon glared at him.

"Did you have any idea Spencer was dirty? Well?" He cast his gaze around the screens, as if accusing everyone, "No. Umbrella was a long-standing member of the Consortium, and none of us had a clue what he was up to. Why not? Because he kept it a secret! That's the whole point of being sneaky and secrative; so people don't find out what you're up to. Wesker spent a lifetime doing illegal things. He was a regular James Bond supervillain. You read the BSAA's report on him. I didn't have a chance."

"We still need to conduct a complete review of Tricell, just to put everyone at ease," said another speaker.

Saxon nodded. "Not a problem. Search away. You will have my full co-operation. I want my company cleared of any wrongdoing here. We have nothing to hide."

When the videoconference was finished, Saxon loosened his tie and glowered over the shoulder of one of the control room operators. "Get Nicholai on the plasma. Now."

A few minutes later the Russian mercenaries ugly mug graced the main plasma screen, the image picked up by the camera built into his digital videophone. He looked unhappy. This wasn't saying much, as he often looked that way. Saxon stopped pacing and jabbed a finger at the screen.

"What the hell is taking so long?" he demanded.

"There has been some complications," Nicholai said.

"What complications? They're French! How hard can it be to steal something from a bunch of frogs?"

Nicholai gave him a disdainful look, but held his tongue. It was seldom a good idea to insult your employer. "Security was better trained than I had anticipated. They slowed us down long enough for someone to release a swarm of BOW's that must have been kept in storage in one of the labs. The village and Chateau have also been contaminated by the T-Virus. A strain I've never encountered before, too."

"What do you mean?"

"All infected humans have gone straight into the V-ACT stage," explained Nicholai. Saxon frowned and snapped his fingers several times.

"V-ACT? You mean those Crimson Head zombies?"

On screen, Nicholai nodded. "They are much faster and more aggressive than normal zombies. There is also at least one Tyrant on the loose. Unknown type."

Saxon resumed pacing, though never took his eyes off the screen. "Unexpected, but so what? I gave you a team of super soldiers. They should make mincemeat out of anything you run into."

The Tricell assault team that Saxon had assigned Nicholai to lead were all enhanced with the P-30 drug that the company had recently developed. The drug greatly increased natural abilities to superhuman levels, making a user faster, stronger and all-round better. It also made them easy to control. Nicholai himself was using one of the injector devices, though he had been given a counter-agent to prevent the drug from affecting his will.

"The men you supplied are performing admirably," Nicholai said, "but our adversaries are the least of our concern. The delay they caused has allowed Henri to hide herself and the Birkin girl somewhere, presumably wherever the serum samples are being developed and stored. We haven't been able to locate them, as they are not in the lab area. The Chateau is filled with locking mechanisms and traps. Even your wonder drug doesn't make us prescient."

Saxon sighed impatiently. "Keep searching. I want that serum. It's the most valuable commodity _ever_ developed. You find it, you can expect the biggest pay off you've ever had or ever will have. So find it. And make sure you kill Henri while you're at it. She's a loose end from Umbrella, and we can all do without her being around."

"Understood," Nicholai said, and ended the transmission.

* * *

Claire heard a thump from upstairs. She started, once again surprised. This creepy place was making her edgy. Gripping her pistol firmly, she made for the nearest set of stairs and began to climb, stopping every so often to listen. She arrived at a second floor landing with a long corridor stretching in both directions. The stairs also continued upwards to the third floor, but the sound she had heard must have come from this floor, she was sure.

"Hello? Is anybody here?"

Still nothing. And it was completely dark, the only light coming from the bright LED on her phone. Was the power out? She should check that the next time she found a light switch. With a deep breath, Claire crept down the corridor and tried the first door she came to. It opened easily, allowing her into a neat but musty smelling room. The light from her phone reflected off a mirror, casting a white glow across the walls.

"Is anyone in here?" Claire called out, apprehensive. She took a further step into the room. There was a crash to her right. She spun and raised her gun just in time to see a dark figure lurch from the adjacent bathroom and spring at her. Claire cried out and dived to one side, narrowly avoiding the swing of razor sharp claws. Steadying herself, she raised her gun and light in unison, getting a good look at her sudden attacker.

Zombie. No question. Rotted flesh. No hair. Milky white eyes. Dirty clothes. Different, though. This one was almost skeletal, its clothes and flesh stained a deep red. Its hands had transformed into curved claws, which were splattered with dried blood that perhaps belonged to someone else. It wasted no time in coming straight for her, moving with much more speed than she had come to expect from a zombie. Claire squeezed the trigger of her pistol, sending a three-round burst of 9mm bullets into the things torso. It ignored the shots and kept on coming, claws swinging for her face in the blink of an eye.

Claire ducked and ran past it. She didn't slow down, going straight for the door that led out of the room, her momentum taking her into the corridor wall outside. She rebounded and cast a quick glance down the hallway with her torch. Another clawed zombie was lurching with worrying speed towards her, and she could already hear the one in the room she'd just left on the move. She darted towards the stairwell, hoping to make it down to the ground floor and get out, but as luck would have it yet another fast zombie was tanking up the stairs towards her.

She was trapped. One coming up the stairs, one down the hallway, and the first one she'd escaped from had exited the room and was blocking her retreat. And all of them were closing fast. What the hell was she going to do?

In desperation Claire gripped the banister and hauled herself over it, dropping straight down to the ground floor and rolling when she landed. She dropped her phone in the process and had to scramble for it as the zombie on the stairs did an about turn. Up she sprung and bolted for the main door to the inn and her ticket to freedom. She hoped. Swiftly tucking her phone away, she gripped the handle and wrenched the thing open.

And found herself face to face with the barrel of a gun.

* * *

"Where is everybody? Bingo?"

Jill stood in the middle of the apparently empty village, looking around at row after row of dark, silent buildings. There were no cars in sight, so maybe everyone had left? She strolled around, peering into the shadows cast by the streetlights, searching for movement or some sign of life.

She spotted something out of the corner of her eye, turned and stared at it. It was a large building. An inn or similar from the look of it. It was just as dark and lifeless as all the other buildings here, so what had she seen?

There - a flash of light spilled out of one of the windows for several seconds and was gone. A torch? Was someone in there? With no other idea's presenting themselves, Jill decided to check it out. The light appeared at one of the windows on the second floor (she thought of it as the first floor, but it was the second here in Europe wasn't it?), but quickly vanished again. All of this merely made her curious. The sudden burst of gunfire very quickly made her alarmed.

Her M92F was out of its holster in a flash and her stance changed to a combat ready one. She moved more quickly towards the front door, and was going to stand to one side and open it when the thing burst open itself. She raised her gun at once and took aim, recognising the figure standing there as Claire Redfield - Chris' sister. Claire stopped and stared at the gun pointed at her head.

"Get down!" Jill shouted. Claire did so without hesitation, and Jill's shot went straight into the head of the zombie lunging for Claire. The bullet blew out the back of its skull and down it went. Jill took a step forwards, staring down at the corpse. A zombie! A crimson head at that. That took her back. She turned to Claire, who stood up and gaped at her.

"Jill?"

"Claire? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," said Claire, "but there are more of those things in there."

"Right," Jill nodded. She reached around for the door latch, flipped the switch for it and then pulled the door shut. It closed with a loud Click as the latch locked into place. A few moments later something rammed into the door with enough force to rattle the hinges. The two backed away and ran into the night, putting as much distance between themselves and the zombie infested building as possible. When they felt they were far enough away, they both stopped to catch their breath.

"What's going on here?" Jill asked, the adrenalin from the brief encounter draining away. Claire sucked in a deep lungful of cool, clear air and shook her head.

"I have no idea. I came here because Leon had a tip-off that Sherry Birkin was being held captive here. When I arrived though, the whole place seemed deserted. Then I ran into those really fast zombies. With claws! What gives?"

"Crimson heads," Jill explained, "It's what you get if you kill a zombie but don't destroy the body. The T-Virus reanimates it as a faster, meaner version. We think it may be an intermediary stage that leads to Lickers. Anyway, did you say Sherry? Sherry Birkin?"

"Yup, at least that's what Leon told me. It's the first news I've heard about her since she was abducted. So what are you doing here?"

Jill shrugged. "I heard that there used to be an old Umbrella lab hidden somewhere around here," she said, "Seeing as I've only just come back from the dead, as it were, I thought I'd take it easy and scope out an abandoned facility. From the look and sound of things though, this place isn't quite so abandoned."

Claire pointed at the patch on Jill's shoulder. "You work for the BSAA, like my brother, right? Can you call in the troops? I think it's safe to say this place needs locked down."

Jill holstered her pistol and beckoned Claire to follow. "Come on, we can make the call from my car. There's weapons and ammo I could use, and I'm sure Chris would like to have a word or two with you ..."


	4. Chapter 4: New Game

Sorry for the delay, my computer fried and I lost my recent work. When I got a replacement I got distracted by the new Lost in Nightmares scenario DLC for RE5. Ironically, that scenario mentions that Spencer was also searching for means of achieving immortality. I might work that into this fic at some point.

Oh, and a small bit of trivia - Christine Henri, one of the main antagonists in this story, was not actually made up by me. I got the idea from one of the EX files for the N64 version of Resident Evil 2. She is named in a memo in which she orders HUNK and his team to retrieve the G-Virus and bring it to Loire Village, in France. That is what gave me the idea for this fic, in case anyone is interested.

* * *

**RESIDENT EVIL: REUNION**

_Chapter 4: New Game+_

"Chris, come in, this is Jill," she frowned at the car phone, "Something's wrong, I can't get through."

"The local phone lines are dead as well," Claire added from the passenger seat beside her, "Radio?"

Jill shook her head. "No such luck. All I got was static," she sighed, "So much for calling in backup. Never mind; I told Chris I would check in when I got here. When he realizes I can't call in he'll have a team here inside of an hour."

"Great," said Claire, "what do we do in the meantime?"

"Well you can wait here for your brother to show up. I'm going to load up and check out that Chateau, see what I can find out about what's been happening here."

"What? I'm not just going to sit here!" Claire protested, swivelling in her seat to face Jill, "Sherry might be a prisoner here, and I am not going to lose this chance to find her."

"Forget it Claire, it's far too dangerous - Chris would be livid if he knew I'd dragged you into a hostile situation like this," Jill countered, hanging up the car phone and glancing at the clock on the dashboard. Claire snorted.

"Yeah, well Chris isn't my boss, and neither are you. I'm going to look for Sherry with or without you ..." she turned and reached for the door handle, but stopped and glanced around when Jill grabbed her arm firmly.

"Claire, I'm serious - wait here," Jill said, her expression hard.

"Listen, I can take care of myself," Claire insisted, "I've been through at least as much as you have."

The two of them stared at each other in silence for several long moments. They broke eye contact when they saw movement outside of the vehicle, and turned their heads to look out through the windscreen. There was a huge dark shape standing in front of the parked Humvee. Jill slowly reached over and turned on the headlights, revealing a towering giant of a man in a dark green trenchcoat. His skin was pale white, his head hairless, and he stared back at the pair with cold black eyes.

"Crap," Jill breathed, "Tyrant."

"That's the same thing that chased after Leon back in Raccoon," Claire whispered.

The T-103 swung one of its massive arms around and brought a gloved fist down on the front of the vehicle. The engine was pulverised by the blow, the impact knocking the two passengers about.

A split second later Jill shouted; "Get out!" and reached for the door handle herself. Before she could open it the Tyrant gripped the Humvee and flipped it end over end, tossing it onto its roof. Claire and Jill threw their arms over their heads to avoid breaking their necks, though both were tossed about and dazed. They managed to get around onto their hands and knees, and Claire could see the combat boots of the Tyrant as it casually strolled over to the side of the upturned vehicle.

"Are you okay?" Jill asked Claire. Claire watched the Tyrant draw one of its feet back and her eyes widened.

"Hold on!" she yelled. A moment later the blow connected, the Tyrant delivering a powerful kick to the side of the Humvee that crumpled the frame and the door inwards, sending the whole thing careering across the ground. Claire was unable to maintain a grip on anything, and the sudden movement flung her sideways into Jill, knocking the air from their lungs.

The Humvee skidded to a stop, the two passengers groaning in pain. Jill was dimly aware of a rushing, roaring sound outside, and a part of her mind pointed out that it was probably the river. The river! Shock and alarm cut through the daze she was in, and she struggled to untangle herself and wrench the door open. The whole thing was warped from the impact it had received however, and there was no chance of getting it open.

"Claire, get out, we have to get out - it's trying to push us into the river!"

"The door's stuck!" Claire cried out, trying the one on her side to no avail. Outside, they could hear the heavy approaching footfalls of the Tyrant as it drew nearer. Gritting her teeth, Claire drew her pistol and fired it into the door window, the shots deafening in the small confined space. To her dismay, the 9mm rounds only chipped the glass. "You're kidding - bullet proof glass?"

They started moving again as the Tyrant arrived and silently began pushing the vehicle towards the river, just as Jill had predicted. Claire tried to fire more shots into the window in the hopes of shattering it, but the bumping, shaking movements threw off her aim. They reached the bank, and with a final shove the T-103 tipped the entire Humvee into the icy cold waters of the river Loire, where it promptly sank like the hunk of twisted metal it was.

Jill and Claire watched as the cracks in the window that Claire had shot began to spread, growing larger. They exchanged a worried glance and both began sucking in as much air as they could. The pressure from the water caved the weakened glass in, an icy torrent crashing in and filling the interior. Within seconds the two were completely submerged. Claire turned to Jill and pointed at the now empty window frame, to which Jill nodded and gave her the thumbs up. They swam out and pushed their way upward, breaking the surface and gasping for breath. An exhausting minute later and they made it to shore, clambering up onto the opposite embankment to the one they'd slipped in from, dripping wet and freezing cold.

Jill fell to her knees, sucking in deep shuddering breaths, whilst Claire lay flat on her back and groaned. Jill glanced across the river, but mercifully there was no sign of their implacable attacker. She wondered if that was necessarily a good thing or not.

"Well," she said staring at the gurgling river, "there go all my weapons and ammo ..." she drew her pistol and checked it. It was soaked through, along with all the spare clips she was carrying. Useless. Her radio, too. Claire faired no better, her pistol and cell phone now so much dead weight. The only equipment Jill had left that still worked was her combat knife and a first aid spray. Not much.

"How are you holding up?" she asked Claire. Claire was shaken, but she was still determined to go on, Jill could see it in her eyes.

"You have to ask?" said Claire. Jill laughed lightly, causing Claire to frown. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just you remind me of your brother," she removed her fingerless gloves and wrung the water from them before replacing them, "Well then, after you ..."

A short distance away, Chateau Loire loomed ominously overhead.


	5. Chapter 5: Familiar Faces

**RESIDENT EVIL: REUNION**

_Chapter 5: Familiar Faces_

The main entrance hall of the Chateau was empty. Dim lighting was provided by electric lamps, casting dense shadows everywhere. It was extremely chilly as well, and the pair could see their own breath misting in the air. At least it was dry; it had started raining outside and they were already soaked to the bone.

"I wonder if they have a fire around here," muttered Claire, hugging herself tightly whilst trying to stop her teeth from chattering, "I'd settle for a radiator or some central heating too."

Jill couldn't agree more; she was freezing. A pool of water had formed around the two where they stood. She glanced over at Claire. "Well I know of one way we could warm up."

Claire stared at her for a moment and then chuckled. "Are you coming on to me?"

Jill smirked. "Oh, absolutely. Come on, we better keep moving."

"Where should we start? This place is huge."

Good question - where? Jill thought it over for a moment, staring at the impressive staircase that lead up to the second floor. Gods, this was so familiar. Why was it she always seemed to find herself in grand yet creepy monster-filled estates? Maybe it was time to find a new line of work.

Claire sneezed. "Sorry," she said. Jill pointed at the stairs.

"Lets start from the top. Whoever is running this place probably has their office up there. We might find some information that can help us locate Sherry."

Claire nodded and they ascended in silence. When they reached the top, Claire grabbed Jill's shoulder and put a finger to her lips to indicate they should be quiet. They listened intently, and just at the edge of hearing could make out the sound of voices from below. Together they hid behind an ornate banister and peered down at the entrance hall. The voices grew louder and they heard a door open somewhere out of sight.

"Have you searched the labs thoroughly?" said a man, the slight hint of an accent in his all-too familiar voice. Jill frowned, trying to remember where she had heard it before. It made her vaguely uneasy.

"Yes sir, no sign of the Serum or the Birkin girl," spoke another, though this one was not familiar. Claire's heart jumped - the Birkin girl! So Sherry was here!

The speakers came into view; two men, obviously soldiers or some kind of paramilitary. They were decked out in black combat gear, though their fatigues were unmarked. Probably not an official or legal outfit then, which was bad news. One was wearing a ballistic helmet and goggles that obscured most of his features, but the other's face was clearly visible and sent chills through Jill Valentine. Nicholai! The bastard was still alive. What was he doing here?

"Also we lost two men to a trap in the west wing," the other man continued, "The ceiling came down on them and crushed them."

"It can't be helped," Nicholai remarked dismissively, "Have the rest of the men continue the search while I check Henri's office."

"Yes sir," the man nodded, spun on a heel and marched off. Nicholai remained behind and pulled out a palmtop computer from one of his belt pouches. From behind the second floor banister, Jill glared at the grim figure below. Nicholai had repeatedly tried to kill her during the Raccoon city incident - he was a mercenary to the core and a psychopath to boot. As he glanced over a map of the Chateau on his computer, Nicholai wandered about the hall. By chance he stepped in the small pool of water that Jill and Claire had left behind, and stared down at it, frowning.

Just then, Claire sneezed again. In the blink of an eye Nicholai drew his pistol and snapped off a shot in their direction. The round impacted the banister, sending a shower of splinters into Claire's face, causing her to cry out. Jill pulled her away as more shots thudded into the wood. Enhanced by the P-30 drug, Nicholai was able to leap up from the ground and grab the banister in one swift bound. He spotted the pair struggling away and pointed his pistol directly at Jill's face. A moment of recollection made him hesitate, and Jill took full advantage of that. She lashed out with her foot and kicked the banister. Weakened from multiple gunshots, it gave way and sent Nicholai plummeting back down to the ground floor.

"Come on," Jill said, hauling Claire to her feet and running for the nearest door, her heart hammering in her chest. This was bad. This was very bad. She wrenched the door open, pushed Claire through and slammed it shut behind her.

* * *

In the main entrance hall of the Chateau, Nicholai picked himself up and brushed himself off. He heard them slam a door but paid it no mind. Instead of giving chase, he calmly holstered his pistol and pressed a finger to the transmit button of his radio collar.

"All teams, this is Fox One," he broadcast, "We have two intruders in the building, currently on the second floor, east wing. Converge on that location immediately and apprehend them."

Well, well, Jill Valentine. Nicholai had heard that she'd been killed in action somewhere in Europe years ago. How lucky for him that she was still alive and kicking. After all, he found it hard to believe that her presence here was mere coincidence. Perhaps she would know something of use ...

* * *

One of Nicholai's teams was searching through the kitchen on the first floor when the call came in. Intruders on the second floor. Locate and capture. With P-30 injectors attached to their torso's they followed orders without question or hesitation, the chemical suspending their will. Hefting their G36C's, the four-man squad stopped what they were doing and set off at once.

It was dark throughout Chateau Loire, the electrical lights few and far between. Rain thudded against the windows like the beating of a drum, and a distant rumble of thunder was heard, sending slight tremors through the ground. The soldiers paid this all no mind, their attention focused solely on their assigned task.

As they swiftly climbed an L-shaped staircase to a second floor landing, the lights on the wall flickered for a moment and then winked out, plunging them into darkness. Moments later the landing was lit by the harsh beams from the flashlights on their guns, and they continued on unhindered. That is, until their flashlights also began to flicker - all of them at the same time.

"Over there," one of them said, pointing his weapon down the corridor to their left. The squad all turned in that direction and were able to make out an eerie figure standing at the end of the corridor, sporadically lit by their flashlights. It was a young girl, ten or so, in a white dress. Her skin was very pale and her face was almost completely obscured by her long silvery white hair. She seemed to be watching them.

The lights that lined the corridor and landing suddenly came on all at once, flared brightly and then exploded, showering the men in fragments of hot glass. When they looked again, the girl was gone. At that point their flashlights burned out and they were once more plunged into darkness.

* * *

Jill and Claire pressed on through the Chateau, determined to put as much distance between themselves and Nicholai as they could. They stopped in a section of corridor and listened, hearing the distant sound of screaming. Lots of screaming. The lights in the corridor flickered for a moment and then returned to normal, just as the screaming stopped. They exchanged looks.

"What was _that_?" asked Claire, alarmed. Jill didn't answer, since she had no idea. Actually, that wasn't true; she had plenty of ideas as to what might cause a group of people to scream like that, it was just that she'd rather not think about it. They continued on. "So who was that, back there?"

Jill sighed. "His name is Nicholai. I met him in Raccoon City back in '98, probably around the same time you got into town. He was a mercenary working for Umbrella as part of their paramilitary task force, supposedly sent in to evacuate people. He was really sent in to collect data on all the BOW's running loose, see how they faired against soldiers. He was one of several observers, and in order to make sure he had the most bargaining power when it came to payday, he hunted down and killed all the others until he was the only one left. Tried to collect a bounty on me as well, but he had to let me go in order to get away before the missiles hit Raccoon."

"Sounds charming," Claire remarked dryly.

"He's a greedy opportunist that would shoot his own mother if someone paid him to, assuming he hasn't already. Doesn't die easy, either. I'd still love to know how he walked away from a gas station exploding in his face."

They reached the end of the passage and found a sturdy door with a coat of arms engraved on it. Jill tried the handle. It was locked. She shoved against the door but it was solid - there was no way they could force it open.

"Damn. I knew I should have brought my lockpick."

She turned away whilst Claire approached the door and pulled a small wallet from the back pocket of her jeans. Jill watched as she withdrew a set of picks from it and knelt down to work on the lock.

"You can pick a lock?" she asked, surprised. Claire stood and tucked her picks away.

"Yeah, you taught me, remember?"

Jill remembered, though it had been a long time ago. A lifetime, before the madness with Umbrella had started and taken over their lives. Back when Jill had been in STARS, Claire had come to visit her brother at the police station, and Chris had shown her around. She'd met the rest of the STARS squad, including Jill, and the two of them had hit it off. Jill had given her a set of lockpicks and shown her how to use them, which had thrilled the young girl no end. She vaguely remembered Barry cracking a joke about it as well, but then Barry was like that.

"Well I'm glad I did," said Jill, trying the door again. This time it opened with ease.

"So am I, its come in handy more than once," Claire said, following Jill into the next room. It was an armoury, although sadly of the older variety. Suits of gleaming armour lined the walls alongside swords and pikes. No guns or ammo, which was a pity. Jill frowned and peered at one of the suits, which was standing on a pedestal at the back of the room. It had an ornate key hanging around its neck. She pointed at it.

"We should probably get that key," Jill said, "I have a suspicious feeling that we'll need it."

"Right. I'll get it."

Claire strode over to the armour and reached for the key before Jill could tell her to slow down. The key was actually stuck to the armour magnetically, and Claire had to prise it off to get it. When she did so there was an audible clunk of a hidden mechanism, and several rows of spears thrust out from holes in the walls either side of the armour. An instant before Claire was impaled, Jill grabbed her arm and yanked her away. Claire saw the serrated spear tips flash past her vision in a blur, before tripping and landing in a heap on top of Jill.

They lay there for several moments, breathing heavily from the sudden rush of adrenalin, looking into each other's eyes.

"Thanks," said Claire, eventually.

"You're welcome."

Several more moment passed before Claire finally got up, blushing slightly, and helped Jill to her feet. They both turned to regard the spears, which were slowly retracting back into the walls. Claire swallowed, trying not to imagine what would have happened to her if Jill hadn't pulled her away at the last second.

"That was close. Sorry, I was careless."

Jill took the key from Claire and held it before them. "You're alive, that's the main thing. And now we have this," she waved the key, "which must be important if it's so well protected."

"Let's hope so."


End file.
